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No Crank/Start Issue

1K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  ndtaurus 
#1 ·
I was having an issue where my car wouldn't start or even crank the last couple weeks that I've finally solved. It's actually the reason I joined the forum (to ask for help) but I was in a training class all week without much access to my computer and didn't get a chance to post until now. Anyway, I figured I would post about it even though it was solved in case it might help someone else facing a similar issue in the future.

When I went to start my car in my driveway I had nothing. The same thing happened about 5 years ago when my starter went out. It was really cold out and I didn't feel like troubleshooting so I assumed that was the problem and ordered a new one. Put it in and still no start. I probed the wire that switches the relay and found it wasn't grounding. Sure enough, a jumper to ground on the relay and it would crank, but still wouldn't start. That ground is made through the PCM, so it was either the PCM or its ground. I cleaned up the grounds and still no go, then checked the fuse for the PCM power (which I should have checked at the beginning) and it was blown. I plugged in a circuit breaker and tried again. The starter worked! But after a few cranks the breaker tripped and I could see smoke. The wires on the breaker were HOT! So I went looking for a dead short. The breaker stopped clicking on and off when I wiggled a bundle of wires behind the plenum, and I found the issue. The loom that holds the bundle had come loose and allowed the wire to lay on the EGR pipe, melting the insulation on one of the wires and causing the short.

Thankfully, only one wire was damaged and not badly, so I repaired it with some electrical tape and tied the wires up and away from the heat. All works as it should now and hopefully it''s good for another couple hundred thousand miles! I can't seem to get any of my photos resized, but I'll keep trying to get one posted.
 
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#3 ·
Good troubleshooting!
 
#4 ·
One other thing, the reason I didn't check out anything with the PCM in the beginning is that when the key was turned to on, nothing appeared wrong. All the lights and stuff came up as they always had, and even when turned to start everything looked normal. So the moral I guess is check it all, even if it looks ok. Checking that PCM power fuse early on would have saved a ton of time and messing around.
 
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